Racism

Supergoober brought up a good point on the GoG's private yahoo group today about Racism.  For those that don't know, the GoG is made up of a diverse group of races that is a demographic slice of the SF Bay Area.  Seriously it is.  The group is made up of Filipinos, Chinese, Japanese, Polish, Latino, Celts and Italians.   The Group also has Catholics, Jews and other religions that I'm probably not aware of.  (Honestly with the GoG, Religion is a mute point as it's a subject that is rarely discussed and everyone's differences are respected.)  Yet in that Group of Immigrants (there's no one in that group who's ancestors came over on the Mayflower.) The Celts, Pols and Italians would be considered "White" and treated differently than say the Asians or Latinos.   Why?  The media, the mouth breathing "pundits", etc.   I've discussed this before, every Stereotype has a bit of truth to it.  I'm one of the Italians in the group.  My people are loud, we talk with our hands, we are touchy feely and tend to have no concept of personal space.  We pepper our dialogue with Italian sayings (case in point, from being around my relatives and Family all my life I, like other Italians, say the term "Madon" when someone or something makes one shake one's head.  Or when someone frustrates you.  The actual term is "Madonna Mia".  Something on TV last night made me say that and my Daughter said "why do you say that all the time?") and when we are together we get "very Italian".   I know, you are thinking "The Godfather" and "The Sopranos" right now aren't you?  Those stereotypes are true.  Am I offended by them?  Hell no.  The point of this discussion was prompted by Supergoober's response to Rush Limburger calling Justice Sotomayer a "racist".   Wow.  Hello Mr. Kettle, I'd like to introduce you to Mr. Pot.  Her statement was from 2002 when she said that (and I'm paraphrasing here) that "as a Latina she would have a better perspective on the situation than a privileged White Person."   I'm guessing the case was a case of a minority being further undermined by the law or something.   In that case, it wasn't a racist statement.  When offering opinions on laws, I firmly believe the Supreme Court Justices should first ask themselves "Who is this law benefiting?".   In a case like the aforementioned one, if it was about a minority, then yes Sotomayer as a Latina who had to work her way up from the bottom and who was able to attend Law School on Scholarships would have a better understanding of what an underprivileged Minority has to go through every day.   A WASP born into buttloads of cash who has never had to want at any time in their lives doesn't understand shit about being Poor, or a Minority.  Hell they don't even understand what it is to be White and Middle Class.  People claim there's a "double standard".  If a White Man said something similar to what Sotomayer said he'd be branded a racist and would have resigned his nomination.   As well he should.  I hate to say this White Folks, but your racist, in charge of everything asses have had this coming a long time now.   Those of you born into money with no freaking clue as to what those who have to work for a living have to go through every day are in for a big shock too.  Supergoober's comparison was this:  Take White people hating all Filipinos and then compare that to Filipinos hating all White people.  There are more Whites in this country (hell I think they are all here in Tennessee but I digress....) than Filipinos.  If there was a "battle" who do you think would win?  This was his question.  His point was that the White Hatred towards the Filipinos is more dangerous and detrimental to that Racial Group than the Filipino hatred (and yes he commented on the lowercase h..) towards the Whites.  Why you ask?  Isn't it the same thing?  Isn't hatred hatred?  In a sense it's the same thing, but only in the fact that the hate is an emotional response to actions from the other group.  That's it.  Whites have the power in this Country (even with a Black President, it's still a mostly White Congress and House.....).  Most CEO's of the big Powerful Corporations are White Males.  Money talks, and the Whites have most of it.  If a powerful and wealthy White man wanted to, with a little expenditure of cash he could make it so Filipinos are considered second class citizens.   That's SG's point.  We Humans tend to hate what's different than ourselves.   White folks have been Xenophobic for Decades now, and not much has changed.   What is changing is the old generations that accepted the "N" word as no big deal, who actually used it often and in polite company, are dying off and becoming irrelevant.  Funny how most of them are die hard Republicans...hee hee...  I saw a report that said there is an increase in the amount of interracial people in this Country.  I've always said, one day we will all be the same freaking color and be able to trace our ancestry to several different racial backgrounds.    With the generations that are coming of age (i.e. younger than me...) and their attitudes towards things, I'm not surprised in the slightest. 

NAFL......who's that?????

It seems that back in 1996 some people didn't get the hint about Spring/Summer Football being a bad thing.  Remember way back when in the 80's when we had the USFL, the United States Football League.  Such memorable teams as the Oakland Invaders (the Raiders had just moved to LA and this was the replacement team but not an NFL team).  It failed miserably because they were playing during the midst of Baseball season.  Well apparently in 1996 an amateur Football league was put together called the North American Football League and they have been playing ever since and they have 71 teams!?!?!?!?!?!?  If it hadn't been for a recent commercial on TV for the Nashville Storm....which made me pause and say "who the Hell is the Nashville Storm????"....I never would have heard of this league.   If you look at the Wikipedia entry, apparently there will be massive expansion in the league next year with Sacto, San Jose, SF, Stockton, and other Cali cities getting teams.   Has anyone even seen one of their games?  Are these guys popular or even have a following?   You would think they would have gotten the hint after the demise of the XFL....c'mon who didn't see that coming.  It was a "Football" league created by Vince "WWE" McMahon.  Hell they had the same announcers for the Wrestling matches calling the play by play on the game.  Apparently during the mandatory TV time outs, the "Cheerleaders" put on a show akin to a striptease.  Note on TV Time out:  Pro Football is a TV sport.  Every game is televised and shown somewhere in the Country.  That's why there are very few games and they are played on one day, sometimes two, only.  Watching the game live it's very odd because when the networks switch to commercial, play on the field stops.   The live game you are sitting and watching in the stadium actually stops for what is called a TV Timeout.  Now back to the Rant.  The XFL died after only one season.   They made such a huge deal out of it too, but it was not to be.   Then we got the AFL or Arena Football League.  Played indoors on a half sized field it was more action packed and higher scoring.  It also has been steadily losing enthusiasm since day one.  Our team out here in Nashville was sold twice.  Apparently the Predators Hockey team didn't like to share the Sommnet Center.  The AFL team owners decided to cancel the 2009 season to reassess the business model of the league and try and find out why it's not popular.    Gee, I can tell you why.  See USFL, XFL, etc.  Hell see professional LaCrosse and the funniest one of all, professional Roller Hockey.  Oh yes, there was once a team called the Oakland Rhinos.   The one that got me was when the NHL was expanding to areas of the world without snow: San Jose, Phoenix, LA., there was a league trying to compete called the IHL.  There was a SF team called the Spiders and they played in the Cow Palace.  Oh yeah, they were doomed from the start.  The Cow Palace is in one of the most Ghetto areas of SF to begin with.  Put it this way, the KFC near the Cow Palace has a huge lexan wall with tray slots and speakers and this is INSIDE the restaurant.   If a fast food restaurant has to take your orders and serve you through bullet proof glass then it's a Ghetto.  The other reason they were doomed is because the Cow Palace is an ancient facility.  If you've never seen a concert there, don't.  I don't care who it is.  In High School I saw my share of concerts there and the acoustics are horrible.  I know what you're thinking, but no.  I didn't go to concerts to get high or drunk, I actually went to hear the music and see the band play.  I know, GEEK....whatever.  My brain cells will die off naturally over time and not because of some funny green leaf that makes you stupid.  Maybe this amateur league will survive because no one knows about it.  I guess obscurity is better than hype.

How Not to be a Mom

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfmoms/index?blogid=46

I should know better than to check out the "Mommy Files" blog on SF Gate. I've written about Amy Graff before and how she is essentially clueless. She is a wealthy white woman who's husband makes a great living so she has time to get paid to blog and write articles. She has a daughter named Paris....that should be a sign right there, and a son. Apparently she has coddled and sheltered her Precious little Snowflakes to the point of them being afraid of their own shadows. This is the lady who on advice from a friend stopped her family from using shampoo because your hair's natural oils keep it clean........oh and because baby shampoo can give your kids cancer.....like I said before, if that was the case, every single person on this planet born in the 60's on would have cancer.....dumbass!! These people think because they have given birth, they are instant experts on child rearing. Her latest post asks the questions "Were your kids as scared of Pixar's Up as mine were?" WTF???? Apparently there are some big dog characters in the movie who go chasing after a bird. Well since her snowflakes got pushed down by a big dog a few weeks ago it's now the most traumatic thing EVER!!!!! These kids, 6 and 4 are so afraid of these computer generated, cartoony dogs that they cower under Mommies skirts to the point she has to leave the theater. Holy crap Lady!!! Do you not know that you have to help your children get over their fears? She admits she didn't research the movie ahead of time but seems to blame Pixar for making a child inappropriate movie. Ummmm....okay...it's for Kids and I believe it's rated G!!!! Tell you what Lady, just plop your kids down in front of swirling colored lights okay.....that shouldn't be too scary. Or have them watch Veggie Tales...oh wait, that might scare them because they are talking, Christian vegetables......talking Veggies can be traumatic. It sounds like I'm being a bit harsh but this Lady really pisses me off. Why you ask? Because she is supposedly some kind of "expert" and gives advice on a Moms Blog that poor, lost Mother's go to for expert advice. This Lady has more money than sense and seems to want some kind of award for giving birth. Read her blog if only for the laugh it will give you....you will laugh as you read her "advice" because you won't believe some of the crap she says. I bet she carries an industrial sized bottle of Purell in her purse. Just saying.

Update: Hee hee...apparently I'm not the only person who thinks her kids are coddled, wimps.....the comments to her latest blog post are full of people telling her what a moron she is or what wimpy kids she has. You'd think this Lady would have gotten a clue that it's a Pixar movie rated PG...that should tell you right there not for 4 and 6 year olds......

Promised an entry yesterday...

Sorry about that.  Forgot it was my day off.  Anyway, this is my usual rant about inconsiderate/moronic parents.  I've been running into a lot of these people lately and it makes me wonder who is training these people how to parent?  The first couple I will rant about are in my Daughter's Karate class.  They have two small boys, the oldest looks about 8 and the youngest is about 5.  The kids are members of the Studio too, but apparently take class at a different time than Mom and Dad.  They bring these two kids to their class because they are apparently too damn cheap to get a sitter; yet they can pay for Karate class for 4 people.....these two kids are going to do what two young boys will do when told to sit in one place...fidget.  Fidget, be loud, be distracting to the point where one of the instructors in the class is always having to go tell them to knock it off.  Every once in awhile Mom and or Dad will say something.  Let's just say, I'm not a big fan of these people.  For starters, they aren't the friendliest people around.  The woman has a permanent scowl on her face and she has that stern librarian look.  She's not an ugly woman, but her aura would make any man run away.  Dad is the stereotype of a Yuppy.  Short, skinny, pale, red hair and never a smile on his face either.  She looks like she'd be at home in a corset, high heel leather boots and carrying a whip.  He looks like he'd be at home in a full body leather suit.  Hey, they just give off that vibe.  They also give off SNOB.....they act like they are better than everyone else.  Thus the lack of babysitter.  They're little snowflakes are so precious and shouldn't have to be babysat.   I'm not the only one it pisses off either.  I can see several of the parents sitting watching their kids giving this couple the hairy eyeball.  Even some of the younger kids in the class get upset.  It's quite distracting.  I personally think the studio should have a separate area with videos and video games to keep the munchkins busy, but hey it's not my studio and really it's up to these parents to be considerate.  The other night, Cat and I got some time to ourselves and went to see the new X-Men move....freaking awesome BTW but I digress....in walks this young 20-something couple with a baby!?!?!?  C'mon you dumbasses....seriously???  I will say, however, this kid didn't make a peep the whole time.  But, usually they do, and you can't expect an infant to handle sitting through a 2 hour movie.  Look, when you have kids, you give shit up.  Rent the damn thing.  It will be on DVD soon enough.   Another type that gets me is she of the over fertile loins.  You know, the woman that thinks her uterus is a clown car......let's see how many we can push out of there.....   This world is over crowded as it is, and we don't need you having 6 freaking kids.  Saw this one woman in Kroger......6 kids all ranging in age from 10 ish to newborn.  She didn't look a day over 35-40.   WTF lady?  I think, personally, three is plenty.   Hell, one or two is ideal.   Do you not consider the following things before you choose not to get your tubes tied, his tube snipped, or use some form of contraception:  A. The cost of raising that many people.  Yes it's cheaper to live in Tennessee than it is to live in say the Bay Area, but still.  Raising kids costs money....lots of it.  B. With that many kids, the quality of attention and education Mom/Dad gives them decreases.  Seriously, think about it.  I have two Grandkids.  I have to work at giving them equal attention.  The boy is 5 and the girl is 8 months old.   I manage, but I think about having 6 of them.  Holy Crap that's just nuts.  C. The drain on your body and the strain it puts on your marriage.   I love my Daughter, but I'm glad when it's just Cat and I.  The other two are grown and live on their own, and we will miss Liv when she goes off to college but we will be glad for the lack of teenage girl drama in our home.   The other moronic parents I wish to rant about are the one's that just don't give a shit.  You know the ones.  They come into a store with their kids and the kids run rampant.  They go to the toy aisle, take every single toy off the shelf and play with it (they of course forget to put them back, they even take them out of the boxes, etc).   Mom (it's usually just Mom) doesn't care.  They are out of her hair so she can shop so what if they destroy the store and ruin the inventory.  See entitled pain in the ass lady...this is why stores have to raise their prices so much; because of your dumbass.   Our laptop is being repaired and lately Cat and I resort to the local library for our computer use.   Lately we have seen the mom that doesn't give a shit in there.  A lot!!!  I seriously think it's time for population control in this country.  2-3 kids max, mandatory parenting classes, and I get to legally beat the shit out of you if you annoy me with your Precious little snowflakes.  

Urban Jungle in My Front Yard

You will notice that every once in a Blue Moon (better than a Blue Bolt...just saying) my entries aren't always me Ranting and raving about the daily stupidity I'm subjected to.  I have a good one for tomorrow about Parents who think their Precious Little Snowflakes are entitled to be with them everywhere and said Snowflakes are constantly annoying the Hell out of everyone around them.  But that's for tomorrow.  The Wife and I have been actually making headway on the landscaping projects around the house (on those precious few days when it's not FREAKING RAINING!!!!) and not only does it look good, it gives you that sense of accomplishment.   NO, the pond is still not dug yet....that's coming though.   When we moved in, there were two huge sets of juniper bushes....the Perfect Line knows these well as a whole sea of them was planted outside his house he once owned in Cali.....we are talking huge, sprawled out, and hiding the house.   One set was in front of the Step-Daughter's room and the other in front of the Front Porch.  Cat lopped them as best she could then I took my trusty chainsaw to them and got them down to stumps as low down as I could go.   Well recently we've decided to remove said stumps and landscape the area.  When the bushes were removed, it was like I had a new house!  It actually made the house look bigger.  Apparently the moron that lived there before us...probably several morons ago...liked to plant huge, bush like things right against the freaking outside walls of the house.  Why do people do this?  It closes your house in and makes it look smaller.   Anyway, back to the stumps.   Unless you have a tractor with a strong chain, might I suggest not trying to remove stumps with a shovel and pick axe.  It takes a long time and we had 6 total to remove.  Holy Crap!!!  What a pain in the ass that was.  We decided for the space in front of the porch to plant some Hostas and some small bushes...ones that only get 3 foot high and about that wide.  We got some Soft Touch Hollies.  They grow in a dome shape and stay compact.  Nice looking stuff.  The Hostas are nice too.  Basically large leafed, flowering ground cover that will spread over time.  We got rid of all the bricks surrounding the flower beds and bought some landscape timbers....they are cheap at Lowes, about 1.69 a piece.  We put a barrier of timbers, two high, around the bed.  Drilled a hole and drove them into the ground using these HUGE galvanized nails we found for about .70 a piece....basically foot and a half long nails.  Looks good and holds well.  Before we put the timbers down we rolled out landscape fabric to keep the weeds out and cut holes in it to access the soil below for planting.   On top of that went red mulch.  It looks nice.  In place of the other Junipers we took out, we put two Hollies that grow in a column shape and only get about 4 inch diameter and about 5 foot tall.  One on either side of Liv's window.  The rest of that area is going to become a courtyard/patio.  We have stacks of flagstone from my In-Laws house and plan on using those.   When we bought the house, I made a point to get several bird feeders because to me a yard full of wildlife makes your property seem alive.   Some houses you see are sterile looking and manicured to the point of looking fake.  You hear no birds or insects, heck even the neighborhood cats avoid it.  So far in the 4 years I've lived there I've seen so many different species of bird it's amazing.  Finches of all kinds, even Gold Finches.  Red Headed Woodpeckers, Cardinals, Mockingbirds and Robins.  Said Robin Family decided to build a nest in our carport this year.....and it's hysterical to see little tiny Robins flying around our yard.  Apparently our new landscaping is popular with the Wildlife.   Little side note here so you understand the following section.  I've told you of our Diva Kitty Panther, AKA the Paw of Doom or Fish Slayer.  She is a Japanese Bobtail who likes to fetch, is grumpy and growls like a dog when the doorbell rings or she sees or hears something she doesn't like.  She's quite the tough cat.   The other night it was warm enough to have the windows open and Panther was sitting on the sill looking out on the front porch when she started to growl.....deep growl.  I went over to see what was pissing her off, and there on the porch cringing away from Fish Slayer: The Paw of Doom was a good sized Raccoon.  He proceeded to run off....probably lured to our yard by the new landscape.  The next day I saw a grey squirrel with a walnut the size of it's head in it's mouth digging in our new landscaping.  He dug in one place, encountered landscape fabric, dug in another with the same result, then belly crawled his way under one of our biggest Hostas to bury his treasure for wintertime.  It was rather funny to see this furry tail sticking out from under the Hosta......

Hello and Welcome to Post 400

Wow, 400 posts. 400 times I've ranted about either: Republicans, Pharmcos, Teenagers, RedNeck Hicks, morons that can't drive and ambush style, guilt ridden advertising. Speaking of which, does all that Spam really work? I'm not talking about the mechanically separated chicken and "meat" goodness that comes in many varieties in a can....and yes, dammit it's goodness....nummy, deliciousness.., no I'm talking about the scourge of our inboxes, and mailboxes. That Spam. The Spam in our mailboxes is annoying because if you aren't careful (and I'm talking about physical mailboxes now...you know USPO stuff) and look through it you may just throw out a utility bill or something important. Other than that little issue, you can usually take care of it by dropping it in the trash. Unless, of course, there are coupons in it. Look, if you are going to advertise to me, give me a reward for sitting through your stupid ad. I don't care how many trained monkies they have working on Madison Ave, ads are all the same really. Our shit is better than their shit.....buy ours because it will make you, taller, thinner, longer, stronger, sexier, prettier, etc etc. Coupons are great because it makes me want to go try your product (I love when they give you a coupon for a free one so you can try it). If I don't like it, then I didn't spend much or nothing at all. If I like it, then I just may buy it in the future depending on the following criteria: A. Is the price right? My Step-Daughter swears by Garnier Fructis...she pleased with the way her hair turns out so we buy it for her. It's usually on sale/and or discounted somehow. Even when it's not, the price is comparable to other products. Me, I buy Kroger brand shampoo/conditioner combined. It's cheaper than Pert or Suave or any of the others, and when you have a hairline like I do, there's not much hair to wash. B. Is there something in the product that isn't in the others that makes it worth the extra money? Does it taste better? Sometimes brand name stuff tastes better than non-brand name, but other times, it's pretty much the same. Take Kroger brand Coffee. It's as tasty as Maxwell House, Folgers, etc and usually cheaper. Kroger brand Diet Soda just as good. Take Gilette razors for example. They have about 500 different handle schemes with color coordinated lubricating strips to go with the handles scheme you are buying. They charge for replacement blades according to the popularity of that particular scheme. The original 3 bladed razor's replacements cost less than the Mach 3 Turbo vibrating handle ones do. Guess what? Other than the colors on the blades, they are the same damn thing. I buy store brand disposables or schick. I know Wayfarer....double blade safety razor...I've looked and can't find one at Target. I will keep looking. TV and mail advertising I don't mind so much as there are restrictions on what they can claim and say. Spam on the other hand has no such restrictions apparently. I really wonder if this crap honestly gets folks to buy the products they are schleping. These are some of the ones that I get: Sue get out of debt now. Sue I will save you from Foreclosure. WalMart gift card claim center. Let's meet for sex tonight. I can do freaky things. Prize claim #123456789. Get bigger breasts now. Enlarge your penis. Those are the ones you can read. The others are like some alien language, i.e. pornbankgamblingsexmoney Hey cheap Viagra. Or my favorite: breast bigger enlargment now all natural herbal pill enlarge size breast now cheap med

WTF???? Is that a language? Sue??? Where the Hell did they get Sue from? You can't even get my name right when you are sendimg me this crap and yet you want me to buy your services. You can't get a simple thing like my Sex right but you can get me out of debt. Yeah right. Why are you going to save me from Foreclosure; I'm not in Foreclosure. How did I get a Walmart Gift Card? Who bought one for me, and why do I have to go to a website to claim it? If someone is buying me a gift card, they usually give it to me in person or mail it to me. They don't send me an email saying Get WalMart card refernce code 123456... Let's meet for sex? Number one I'm married, happily I might ad. The Spam ad has a womans name in it...."Hi I'm Cindy I saw your personal ad on xxxxx.xxx site and I love it...let's hook up!" and the sender is Ramone123@aol.com. Number two, I didn't fill out an ad on xxxx.xxx so not sure who's ad you were looking at, but it wasn't mind. Why is Ramone123@aol.com sending me email saying he wants me for sex tonight. Sorry Ramone/Cindy not interested, and I don't care how freaky of things you can do. Go away. Now. Get bigger breasts now. I'm working on getting rid of my Moobs than you very much. Now mind you, I wouldn't mind being "hung" but I'm not paying some Jackass in a warehouse in Mexico to ship me some "capsules" filled with powedered whatever. Sorry, don't care. It makes me wonder at the intelligence of anyone who falls for this crap.

Generation Waaahhh!!!!

I expect a certain amount of whining from teenage girls because of the hormonal nature of being a adolescent female in today's world.  Seriously, the hair, the clothes, the Dudes....it's all big Drama and stress for nothing really...... Now how do I know this?  No you Pervs I'm not one of THOSE guys...what I am is the Step-Dad of a 14 year old girl.   My point?  Well it has to do with my dealings with some of my Step-Daughter's friends and "boyfriends" and also some of the doofuses that post and play at the field I play Airsoft on.  Here's my take on what I call "Generation Waaahh!" and the future I fear for me in my old age.

 

Generation Waah is the generation that grew up with parents who parented by whatever scare tactic TV threw at them.  These kids had to wear a bike helmet to ride bikes, and had parents who hovered in the background, full First Aid Kit at the ready and armed with a jumbo sized bottle of Purell.  They did this because our increasing Nanny State Country decided that it was best for "the children".  I'll tell you what's best for "the children".....let them be freaking Children!!!!!  Generation Waah has never been told no, has never had a wooden spoon broken across their ass, has been grounded but it meant nothing, has never had to sit in the dark and finish their meal because food shouldn't go to waste, has never had their mouth washed out with soap for cussing, etc etc.  No they've been given "Time Out".  Go sit on your special little brightly painted "Time Out" bench (even the bench for punishment is cutesy......!?!?!?!?).  Sure they were grounded and sent to their rooms; their rooms with a computer, video games and their Cell Phones.  Some punishment..... They were never spanked because that was "violent and abusive".  Really?  I know my Dad cracked us across the ass with his belt ONCE....and if we ever screwed up enough to require a repeat performance, all he had to do was touch his belt buckle and we straightened our asses out;  Real Quick!!!  You ate what was put in front of you at dinnertime.  If you didn't like it, the rule at our house was "at least try a bite.  If you still don't like it then you don't have to eat it."  Sounds fair to me, and it was.  If we wanted something REALLY bad and Mom/Dad didn't agree with it; we wer told NO......sure we'd whine and plead but we were told "keep it up and you won't get anything ever..."  We accepted the no decision and moved on.  We were also told "if you really want it, start saving your allowance for it."  Wow....what a concept....you saved the money you earned doing chores and then got to buy what you wanted with it.  Even if it took forever to accumulate enough fundage to purchase said item.  Our folks didn't do battle with other folks in the stores or pay exorbitant prices for some stupid toy from someone selling them out of their car.  If there were no more Toy XYZs left, we didn't get it.  Sure we threw a fit, but our parents would just let us sit there in the middle of the store making fools of ourselves, then cracked us in the ass for embarrassing them afterwards.  I know some of you may think I'm condoning child abuse, but a spank on the ass is not child abuse.  Especially when there is a good reason for it.  The child grows up learning what is considered polite social behavior and what isn't.  This generation plays sports where "everyone's a winner!!!!"  What's the point?  In a contest of wills/skills there is a winner and a loser; always.  It's how life works.  The Coyote chases the Rabbit....sometimes the Rabbit gets away and the Coyote goes hungry or sometimes the Coyote catches the Rabbit and the Rabbit becomes sustenance for the Coyote to live one more day.  Sometimes you get the job, and other times someone else gets it.  You get used to it, that's how the world works.  Generation Waah doesn't know this.  The "Team that was successful more times than the others" (God forbid we call them the Winners) gets the main trophy while the other teams that weren't as successful (you know, the Losers) get Participation trophies.  Thanks for showing up.....hey look Mom!  We got a trophy for mediocrity!!!!!!! Yay!!!  We are professional Sheep now.  I remember when I was playing Baseball as a kid.  You got to at least play one inning......they figured your folks are paying for the uniform, etc Jr might as well get to get it dirty for doing something other than warming the bench.  Yes, I was that kid.  I sucked at baseball.  Did I cry about it?  Did my parents get so outraged they went to the news media and wrote their Congressman and tried to get the rules changed just for little Ranter Boy????  Hell no.  My folks said try harder or quit; it was my option and they were prepared to support either decision completely.  I opted to quit as it wasn't really that important to me.  It was Win Win all around.  The team lost a player who really wasn't interested in getting any better and I didn't have to waste my time going to practice or waste my folks money on fees every year.  Do I regret it?  Hell no.  I wasn't good at baseball.  Period.  I practiced my ass off, but I wasn't that guy.  See Generation Waah would never understand that.  One must be honest with one's self.  I liked watching baseball....I miss my Giants....but playing it, meh whatever.  As I got older I got into Fencing.  A sport better suited to my Geekesque nature.  I mean when you've played D&D alot like I did, you tend to gravitate to the more archaic sports.  Ask anyone that does Archery for a sport (and not just for hunting) or fences...odds are they have either played some of the games I've played or read some of the stuff I've read or seen some of the same movies I've seen...or a combination of all of the above.  Knowing one's limitations is knowing one's self.  Yes you can always strive to overcome those limitations, but sometimes it's not worth it.  Should I have spent my energy learning to be a better ball player?  Why?  Playing the sport didn't interest me in the first place.  Generation Waah would have Mommy and Daddy get trainers, and videos and spend countless amounts of money on their training just so they could be a good ball player, "just because".  

 

What prompted this latest rant on the "Instant Gratification Generation" or the "I want it now Daddy" or the "I wanted the Blue one Daddy!!!" generation is the most recent blur of posts on the BK Airsoft boards.  Bad Karma likes to mix things up a bit and usually holds one game as a "Mid-Cap Only" event. For those that don't play Airsoft, Mid-Cap refers to Middle-Capacity Magazine.  Airsoft guns ammo is loaded into Magazines that resemble the real thing; thus the appeal of the Airsoft Gun.   A Carbine series airsoft gun, M4's and M16's...the scary black Assault Rifles.....has it's bb's loaded into a magazine that fits into the place on the airsoft gun that an actual magazine loaded with actual bullets would fit on the real deal.  For the sake of it being "just a game" there exists such things as Hi-Caps or High Capacity Magazines.  They hold 300+ bbs and have a winding mechanism on the bottom of the mag that keeps a constant stack of bbs loaded in the feed chamber.  These are easily reloaded by dropping the mag out of the gun, opening a fill hatch on the top of the mag and pouring more bbs into the mag.  With two or more of these magazines, you would rarely have to bring a bb bottle/bag on the field with you.  As you progress in this sport, you either love or hate the Military Simulation, MilSim, aspect of the game.  For those that love it, we buy radios, tactical vests, knee pads, harnesses etc etc...everything that helps you look and feel like a real soldier without the pesky 5am jumping jacks and multiple mile runs in 70 lbs of gear.  Seriously, real soldiers=badass!!  I'm a pale little paramecium compared to their physical prowess.  I relate this MilSim phenomena to playing Army as a kid.  You know, you had your plastic army helmet and toy gun with a strap and you and your buddies marched around and pretended you were soldiers.  That's MilSim airsoft but with real world accessories.  Those of us that like the MilSim aspect gradually work our way up to using Mid-Cap magazines.  It makes you a better player because there's only 130 shots per mag and you have to pick and choose your targets instead of "spraying and praying".   You end up carrying a lot of mags on the field with you as well as a bb bottle and some kind of hand loader (they are shaped just like the mags and have a hand operated feeding mechanism on them).  It's fun and more realistic as you have to change out mags in the middle of an intense firefight.  Alot of the big MilSim events, Operation: Irene and all other Lionclaws events, are MidCap only and Hi-Cap users have a tendency to be looked down upon by the Veteran's of the sport as still being Noobs.  This coming Saturday is a Mid Cap only game at BK.  For the past several weeks, the posts in the section regarding this event are from Generation Waah trying to beg, plead, insult, whine, throw a tantrum and basically be as annoying as possible until they get the rules changed for their benefit.  Just like they do with their parents.  These morons don't care to play with Mid Caps, nor will they ever after this game....they just don't like being excluded from something because they feel they are entitled and special.  After all they are precious little Snowflakes who have been padded and Purelled and coddled and handed awards for "just showing up".  I finally had to tell them "look, not everyone wins nor do you get to participate in every game out there....too bad so sad suck it up and show up next month."  This next Generation scares me.  They can't work as a team, have no sense of anyone else but themselves....Lord help us if they can't get their way as adults. 

 

I have a little saying for Generation Waaah:

 

"Remember, the world needs Ditch diggers and not everyone gets to be an Astronaut.  Someone has to do the job where you ask 'would you like fries with that?'  Try your best, but know your limitations.  If you can't overcome those limitations, then accept them and move on.  You aren't entitled to shit; work for it.  Earn it.  Don't wait for life to hand it to you, go get it.  We all can't drive Beemers, be happy with what you can get but always strive to be a better YOU.  When you have achieved another level in life then ask yourself 'just because I can afford do I really need it?'  You'd be surprised at your answers when you are honest with yourselves.  Courtesy and manners get you further in life than being an asshole.  Trust me on that one.  If you can't have, or can't go..too bad.  Don't expect other people to change their plans for you.  Either make yourself available, or go next time."

 

Now, read the words.  Commit them to memory.  Once you've done that you will be a better Generation.  But until you embrace these words of common sense I have this to say to you:  Get off my Lawn!!!

 

 

Paul the Apostle: Early Blogger?

Being a recovering Catholic (I was Catholic once, but I drank some warm, salty water and it cleared right up!) I can find the humor in taking a Modern look at the characters and stories from the Bible. It seems that the Apostle Paul was always writing letters to some group or another. He wrote the Corinthians alot, I guess to compliment them on their fine leather products they made. It got me to thinking; what if Paul the Apostle was around today? You know he'd have a laptop and you know he'd be blogging. So the following are excerpts from Paul: An Apostle's Blog.

"So JC just walks out on to the water. Literally on the freaking water!!! Lifts up his hand and the storm goes away!?!?!?! Seriously, where was this guy last week? Trying to take a nice cruise on the Sea of Gaillee but no..it's storm season."

"We've been following Jesus everywhere! He's a great Dude and the Perks are great! I'm in awesome shape from all this walking, although a horse or two wouldn't hurt JC. C'mon Man, a freaking wagon even. Although I'm not hating it as much as Thomas. What a whiny pain in the ass that guy is. Always doubting every little freaking thing. I'm getting ready to stone him myself but Jesus keeps telling us to turn the other cheek. Something bad may happen to Thomas in his sleep I fear."

Rain Journal week 3

Wednesday

It's the third week since we set sail.  The rain hasn't let up yet!  Stuck in the cabin, it's getting real cramped in here!

Saturday

It's about Noon and the sky has cleared for a short bit.  Enough for me to walk the deck and see the damage the storms have left behind.  Found both Unicorn's dead.  Damn Carnivores....I'm going to have to separate them from the other Animals now.

Sunday

Looks like this is truly the "Day of Rest" as the waterworks have stopped.  I was actually productive today, but we had to duck in after nightfall because the storms were coming again!!!!

 

 

Seriously I feel like Noah here.  We've had enough rain, thank you very much.

 

I'm going to build an Ark I Swear I am.....

So I was wondering the other day what exactly are the measurements on a Cubit anyway. I mean Noah seemed to know what 30 Cubits meant. It has been raining almost non-stop since the last two weeks of April, and it doesn't look like it's going to stop anytime soon. This is real good for all the new plants we've planted (there were a few days of clear and warm there...that's how that got done) but it's not good for me and Cath.......what's bad is I didn't clean the gutters out yet....I usually do it in the spring when the weather's nice...and they are clogged with leaves and the rain is overflowing the sides. Okay God/Invisible Sky Wizard or whatever you're called...enough now....thanks, we've had our share now time to stop with the water works. What really sucks is the TN Ren Faire runs just the month of May on weekends...only 4 weeks!!! Hard to imagine when you used to work an 8 weekend Faire.....anyway, it was cancelled on it's first weekend because of rain....and it may be cancelled this weekend as well...in spite of massive advertising. Unlike the Faire I used to do, they don't seem to be announcing extended weekends because of the rain.

Good Night Funny Man, you'll be missed.

Just read that Dom DeLuise died today at age 75. One of the funniest men in the history of all things funny is gone and it will be a sad day.

Updates and such.

First off, let me say I love my friends.....the GoG has a great sense of what's what in the world. I will again plug their blogs a bit here. The Discourser of course is required reading. He has a great view of the world and is a really good writer. I expect to see him published some day. The Professor has an analytical eye on the world and you may very well learn something from reading his blog; he's very thorough in his explanations. SuperGoober just wrote a rant about the media's sensationlizing the Swine Flu issue.....much like myself he sees it as irrational and irresponsible. The Warden's blog is just great reading. If you believe that when there is no more room in Hell the dead will walk the earth, then his blog is for you. Wayfarer's travelogue is still a great read even though he's been home for months now. Another great writer. NTT's Brain is still sketching (he never stops) and his blog is filled with his artwork. The Perfectline will make you wish you were a Gearhead and make you want to buy a track car. The Craftsman's Wife will touch you with the continuing tale of Max the Wonder Baby.

Now for your regularly scheduled post:

New movie recommendation. Rent "Burn After Reading". It's a Cohen Brothers movie and it shows. It's a crazy little journey into the lives of some crazy little people who are willing to do anything for themselves. Narcissists with good intentions but not enough brains to be really dangerous. Funny movie.

Heroes.....it was better than last season that's for sure, but, well I don't know. I will keep watching because I want to see Network SciFi succeed, especially now since the SciFi channel doesn't really show SciFi anymore. The problem I'm having with Heroes lately is it seems the characters never learn from their past mistakes and keep on spiraling downwards in the same vicious cycle season after season. For awhile there it looked like we were going to get an actual Hero Team vs a Villan Team......it won't happen though...not sure why. It would be cool...I'm not talking spandex and masks here but it would be good.

What is with that anyway? We Comic book geeks watch TV too.....we SciFi geeks and Fantasy geeks......make something for us. Yes I know "Big Bang Theory" is technically a Geeks Sitcom, but honestly I haven't watched a sitcom since "Cheers" and "Night Court" went off the air. Yes, I'm that old so shutup. Hell I used to watch "Welcome Back Kotter", "MASH" and "Taxi" religiously. So you see, if they can't make them on par with those, it's not worth watching. Some would argue that "Seinfeld" was in that realm...I disagree. I never found it funny. It was a show about a bunch of self-centered, shallow people. Just not funny. Hell to this day I still laugh out loud to episodes of "I Love Lucy". That was one funny lady. Not being into "Battlestar Galactica" (sorry GoG...just never got into it....) it has been years since I watched SciFi Channel. I remember watching it alot back in the day. They would always show some old SciFi show daily during the 7pm hour. "Sliders", "Quantum Leap" stuff like that. Now it's guys hunting for ghosts and wrestling????? I mean yes, there's your Fiction but where's the Science part??? Side note: Not really sure if Ghosts are Fiction or not I've seen some things and experienced some things I really can't explain so I really can't say if it is indeed Fiction or not. Wrestling on the other hand; Fiction. Bunch of Stuntmen slapping and throwing each other around. I loved "Farscape" and "Stargate" until that show started to become unwatchable. Never watched "Stargate: Atlantis" because it was basically a SciFi channel spinoff and I've had bad experiences with their spinoffs. See the horrible example of "Wizard of EarthSea".....They really pissed me off with their interpretation of Harry Dresden in "The Dresden Files" series. That was not the Harry Dresden from Jim Butcher's novels; not even remotely close. The only thing they did well was to make Bob the Skull have a human form that he can project to talk to Harry. A talking Skull with their budget would have been really cheesy. As it was Harry didn't even have a real Wand or Staff, it was a drumstick and a hockey stick. Just annoying and I'm glad it got cancelled. Seriously, the way the books are written you could have just filmed it almost page by page.

I am liking this new series I've caught on Spike called "Most Dangerous Warrior" or something to that effect. They basically take two types of warriors from History and run tests on each one's weaponry and tactics, crunch the numbers, and run them through a computer simulation to see who would best who. The two I've seen so far are "Samurai vs. Viking" (Samurai won) and "Ninja vs. Spartan" (the Spartan destroyed the Ninja).

That's it for now...remember check out the blogs in the links sections and I will be back with another Rant about something soon.

Someone Gets it besides me!!!!

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2009/04/29/onthejob042909.DTL

Great article about a book called "Free-Range Kids" or something to that affect. The author of the article is a new Father and wonders if all of these Child Safety products we have out now are just fearmongering......he thinks so, and so do I. Good read.

Porcine Mexican Zombies

Bet that got your attention.... So apparently the paranoia of Post 9/11 America still exists (I should know better with all the "Obama's gonna take yer guns" talk I hear all the time) in the fact that people are freaking out over the dreaded SWINE FLU!!!!!!!!!! ZOMGBBQ!!! Yep that's right, the EVIL Mexican Zombies are pouring across our borders to infect us with Pig Flu..... because they have such high standards of health care and their Government is sooooo functional that 150 people died in Mexico City alone. This ain't Mexico City folks. The CDC issued the alert but said to "not worry" and to wash your hands and use Purell if you think you've been around someone who has flu-like symptons. In other words DON'T PANIC!!! This isn't Resident Evil, the hordes of infected Porcine Mexican Zombies aren't coming for you to bite you and turn you into one of them. Yet, friends of mine on a message board are saying everyone should use the coming Pandemic to restock their emergency supplies. In other words, put up the plastic duct tape it in place. Get out your Dr's Masks and lysol and stock up on non-perishable food and water and for God's sake (and this is really just because those damn Liberal Democrats and their Messiah Obama are gonna take yer guns....) stock up on you Assault rifles and ammo. Besides, if there were real Zombies coming, The Warden would tell us....he's the ever vigilant one on that front.

What is Cool?

This is one part observation and one part rant.  Those that know me, know I like to people watch.  It's an interesting way to get a glimpse of the way people present themselves to the world in general.  On TV you see all kinds of examples.  Local merchants who do their own commercials are the best ones for finding unique and humorous things to observe.  Take the Nashville Dodge/Nissan commercials.  They have this blonde, model named Jolene who does their commercials.  She's always dressed nicely in a business suit, but she does the funniest things, and they aren't meant to be funny.  Somewhere she went to Spokesmodel school and it shows.  She does three hand gestures throughout the entire commercial and they all look too rehearsed and not even remotely natural.  And they seem to be done in a certain order.  Hands together, fingers intertwined then she goes to hands in front of her spread apart, then it's one hand down one arm bent slightly with her index finger pointing and emphasizing whatever it is she is saying at that point.  Or there's this Larry Stovesand guy...he owns a Lincoln/Mercury dealership.  He's an older man, that seems to always wear a sweater vest and comes out walking around a car on his lot talking about it real fast.....but what's funny is Larry seems to have no clue about any of the technology that goes into his Ford/Lincoln/Mercury vehicles.  His commercials have statements like the following in them: "It has the Sync, whatever that is...it's got everything" or "It's got auto windows, locks and the trunks go up and down by themselves, it's got the Bluetooth..ummm it's loaded..."  Look Dude, if you are selling vehicles, new vehicles, then know what the Hell is in them and what it does okay?

 

Now back on Topic.  What is cool?  I remember back in school we defined cool based on the group you hung with.  I was never cool because I hung with band geeks....although in that circle I was kind of cool because I was a drummer....and we were the bad boys of the band; at least the trouble makers if not the bad boys.  If you were one of the Highriders or Stoner types, you were cool if you wore any of the following: A black leather vest, combat boots w/steel toes, a Derby Jacket (I had one of these) or an untucked, unbuttoned flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up worn over a rock t-shirt of some kind...or any kind of cool t-shirt.  You also listened to Rock music.  I aspired to be a Highrider, but didn't like vests, Mom wouldn't buy me a pair of combat boots (they were like 65 bucks...I got the 25 dollar hiking boots instead) and I didn't have a cool muscle car all jacked up in the back, nor did I smoke dope or cigarettes.  I knew folks in this group but was a peripheral member.  If you were a Lowrider, you had to be Latino of some kind (not necessarily Mexican but from a Spanish speaking Country), had to wear a flannel shirt but only buttoned at the top button, and the sleeves had to be buttoned too.  Under that you wore a Wife-Beater t-shirt (you know the tank top kind).  You also had to have your hair slicked back and held in place with either a hair net (still not sure why they did this) or a bandana.  Oh, and the bandana had to be partially over your eyes so you had to tilt your head back to see.  Oh, and you had to talk with an over-exaggerated Latino accent and say things like "yo holmes" or "eh esse"....I never aspired to be part of that crowd, but I knew members of that crowd....and they were all American born and didn't have accents until they proclaimed themselves Cholos or Lowriders then all of a sudden, instant Latino accent.  Then there was the Jocks.  To be part of that crowd you had to like sports, be involved in sports, and be a complete ass to everyone who wasn't in sports with you.  These were the dillweeds that threw you in the garbage can as a Freshman, pantsed you, and basically picked on you if you weren't one of them.   I know, some of these clowns never grew up.  Most of these guys now have crappy jobs because they pissed that sports scholarship away at College by drinking way too much and failing school, crappy marriages because they only married for looks and when they got middle age and fat and bald the cheerleader left them, and they are alcoholics because something is needed to dull the pain of the real world not being like highschool.  Their bitter tears of agony are like sweet wine to me.....remember what Bill Gates said "you should be nice to the Nerds and Geeks because one day you may need a job and they will be running the Corporations of the Future".  The last group was the Preppys.  If it was a polo shirt and had an alligator on it, they wore it.  Sometimes they wore two polos and had one collar popped....God that looks soooooo stupid.  They'd wear Top Siders and have a sweater slung over the back of their shoulders and tied around their neck.  They were insufferable jerks then, and most of them are insufferable jerks now.  These are the "entitled" folks who think it's all about them.

 

I look back on all these types of cool and laugh.  I mean, if you think about it, we all looked stupid.  Yes I wear polos to work now, they are casual enough but not too casual that you don't look professional at work.  I still sometimes wear the untucked, unbuttoned flannel shirt over a T-Shirt....it's comfortable and when you are running errands on a Saturday that's what you want; comfortable.  To me, cool doesn't matter anymore.  I'm a 44 year old married guy, I don't need to be "cool".  I have nice clothes I put on when my Wife and I go someplace special, but I honestly buy for comfort or work now.  I've never understood "fashion" nor do I care too.  I've noticed some new trends in "cool" in the last several years that I must address for they, like our attitudes of "cool", look absolutely stupid.

 

1. Leaning when driving.  Have you seen these guys?  And trust me, it's always a guy.  So I got behind this monkey going home yesterday.  He was driving slow...then fast, slow, then fast.  He kept adjusting his lean, I guess he needed to get it right, constantly.  What I mean by lean is these clowns don't sit upright in their drivers seats.  No, the have to lean towards the passenger seat while leaving their left hand on the steering wheel.  This clown kept adjusting his lean which was causing the slow fast driving pace.  If you do this and are reading this I have just one statement to make:  You don't look cool doing this, you look stupid.

 

2. Driving slumped down in the car so low that all anyone can see is your head.  These clowns wonder why the Po Po is always pulling them over.  Gee, might as well mount a big sign saying "Suspicious" on the car.

 

3. Wearing the ball cap sideways.  Why?  It can't be comfortable and it makes you look like you can't dress yourself properly.  You are not cool.

 

4. The falling down pants syndrome.  We loved jeans in school and we liked them to stay up.  So much so that we bought these strips of leather called BELTS and even got belts with a snap on them so you could change out the belt buckle (they had some badass belt buckles back in my day.....you know the space tape rock band ones.....I still have a Van Halen belt buckle somewhere).  Apparently some of these kids think that your pants falling down and your underwear showing is cool.  No, you look like you were dressed by a blind retard.  I know that was cruel...the blind retard part.....but it serves as a good description.   This is not cool, you look really stupid.

 

5. The Goth Kid.  Oh Lord help us and save us from the bitter, moody teenager.  These ones like to dress like they come out of a Tim Burton movie or like Tim Burton himself.  Black hair, black nail polish (guys and girls), black eyeliner (again boys and girls), enough metal stuck in their face and bodies to set off a security detector at the airport.  Teens are moody in general, these kids take it to the extreme.   Guess what vampire boy, life sucks.  You don't know suffering and pain...you only think you do.  Try being married to my Ex-Wife.  Oh wait, that's misery you might like.  By the way, Goth Kid, you don't look cool.

 

6. The Jock Kid.  Not much has changed here.  The only exception is that junior may be on roids to amp up his game.  You will still grow up to be a Manager at a Fast Food restaurant, still get fat and bald, still be an alchy and still have a crappy marriage.  You were never cool, nor will you ever be.

 

7. The Redneck Kid.  Out here this kid is the next right wing conservative to drive a pickup with a gun rack and wear Realtree Camo to formal events.  These kids have a confederate flag on their pickups and a sticker that says "It's heritage, not hate".......sure it is.  Definitely not cool, and will most likely live in a trailer somewhere.

 

These are the kids....now onto the adults: 

 

8. The Prada Queen.  She's botoxed, lifted, enhanced and wears enough makeup to choke a horse.  She shops at stores where crap is way overpriced just to say that she did.  She worships at the church of Name Brands and Labels and will kill for the latest and greatest ones.  She is high maintenance and shallow and it's all about her.  Definitely not cool; just annoying.

 

9. The Golf Pro Wannabe.  He is in business so he HAS to golf.  He has embraced it wholeheartedly, it's in his blood.  He looks for any excuse to play, and he's really not that good.  Oh, he will buy every gadget known to man to help him improve his swing but he will never use them.  You are not cool.  Tiger Woods=Cool.  You=Not Cool.

 

10. Mr.. Keeping up with the Joneses.  Oh yeah, if everyone else has one, so will he.  The early adopter, buys the first version which ends up being obsolete in a few years, but hey he had to have the first one.  No one is impressed, but you.

 

Now for what is cool, at least to me:

 

The Parents who do whatever they can to make their children happy, within reason.  I'm not talking about buying Junior everything he wants, but encouraging Junior to do his/her best in whatever they want to get in.  These folks are cool.

 

The Cops (The Warden fits in here) and Firefighters who aren't slackers and take their jobs seriously and put it all on the line.  Those folks are cool.

 

The Teachers/Principals (Discourser is one of these, the Prof is another) who actually give a shit about the kids under their supervision and actually try and keep those kids on track.  Those folks are cool.

 

Honor, Integrity, Selflessness......these are cool concepts to me.

 

Your pants falling down around your ankles and your boxers showing???? Not so much.

Take a seat Coach, you've earned it.

I was saddened to hear that John Madden had decided to retire from broadcasting this year. One of the formost authorities on the Game of Football, he added a much needed pizazz to the color commentary of each game. He and Al Michaels and Pat Summerall are some of my favorite commentators of all time. Howard Cosell may be a "legend" but truth be told the guy was kind of an ass. Joe Buck, the Nerdiest and most boring commentator ever, I could do without. I still remember your biased commentary during the Angels/Giants World Series schmuck boy. Blatantly obvious biased commentary too. As a Raider fan I barely remember Madden coaching my beloved Silver and Black. I do remember him being larger than life and not quiet when he was pissed. He would stalk the sidelines, chewing up the field. I don't think he ever sat still long enough to get an ulcer or anything like that. When he stopped coaching and became a broadcaster, that was when he truly shined. Many have teased about his "man crush" on Brett Favre or the way he would mumble streams of information while drawing on the screen and explaining the game he loves so much. Sad to see him go, but hey, he's earned it. Now if we can just get rid of Joe Buck.....

RIP Dave Arneson

http://airsoftsteve.blogspot.com/2008/03/gary-gygax-tribute.html

Click on the link to read my tribute to Dave's partner, Gary Gygax. So today we have lost the Co-Creator of D&D Dave Arneson to cancer. I bet there's one heck of a game of D&D going on in Heaven right now. I toast you Dave and Gary, thanks for making a game that us Geeks could actually socialize around. I roll my D20 to you as well.

Carry on Dungeon Master

Smell that? That's extremist Right Wing Desperation is what that is.....

The far Right Extremes of the GOP have finally lost it. They have seriously gone Bat Shit crazy. They come out and admit that Rush Limbaugh is their new spokesman now. Wow...really? Look those on the Extreme Left don't even acknowledge Michael Moore as anything other than a guy that makes controversial documentaries and you pin your Parties' re-emergence on Rush????? Apparently Fox News has decided that they really aren't going to be reporting anything close to fact or truth anymore. Nope, they are apparently going to broadcast nothing but opinion and fear mongering, disguised as news. Hell they even have Alex Jones http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Jones_(radio_host) who is a known Conspiracy Theorist and fear monger as a host now weekly and tout him as "The Great Alex Jones". This guy's radio show basically caused some loser still living with his Mom to strap on his AK and a vest then wait for the police to arrive (his Mom called them because she thought he was going to off her). When the cops showed up he picked them off one by one. Why? Because Alex Jones convinced him that Obama was going to steal his guns. There is currently no Obama Administration Gun Bills in the Senate or House. But hey, gun stores are doing great business as the uninformed are heading there in droves to buy up all the ammo they can get their hands on. Hmmm...remember that comment about Guns and Religion??? Yeah figured you had. Look, nothing wrong with owning guns okay, but seriously Obama isn't going to take your damn guns from you. He wouldn't be the first President to try and he wouldn't be the first President to fail. He's a bit too busy worrying about important things like, oh The Economy, every freaking country in the Middle East hating our asses, Afghanistan where Osama Bin Laden is still hiding and mocking us....you know like Bush said "Mission Accomplished"????? Can I honestly just say to these fools; enough!!!! K??? Seriously stop your freaking whinning. But yet these douches often come back with "well you guys said all this crap about Bush and no one got mad..." whah whah whah....Bush deserved every little bit of hatred thrown his way. We are in this mess because of policies he let happen. He took global sympathy over 9/11, pissed on it, wrapped it in shit then sent it back to those that sided with us saying "take a big bite of this...". That's why Bush was universally hated...okay with the exception of 26% of the Population.... Obama is trying to solve a big mess here dumbasses. Instead of attacking the man, why not try coming up with solutions yourselves. Oh wait, you don't want to do that because it would mean the end of your "beloved, non-regulated, free market"....yeah like the Free Market ever existed. Please.

Morons

First off let me make a disclaimer: I love California and San Francisco and the Bay Area in general. Hell I was raised there and lived there for 40 years before moving to Tennessee.

With that being said, what the Hell is wrong with people in the Golden State lately? In the past couple of months I've read some stupid shit that just needs to be addressed. First off, Vaccinations. Apparently more and more parents now a days are so self-involved and think "they know best" that they are opting not to vaccinate their children. This lead to a new story about some uppity rich couple who took their non-vaccinated kids to "summer" in Switzerland where the contracted measles. When these kids got to school amongst their uppity rich friends the measles spread like an epidemic.....to all their non-vaccinated friends. Why no vaccinations you say? Well because of a Jack Ass named Jenny McCarthy. Who? Exactly.....a bimbo who used to do MTV and posed for Playboy has become an advocate for the Nanny State, scared shitless generation. Her son is Autistic and she believes it's because of the vaccinations he recieved. Even though Medical Science says differently.

Before I continue, another disclaimer: Yes I bash the Pharmaco's on here alot, but as the Wayfarer and I discussed, it's their marketing tactics they use to get ungodly wealthy off of things that help us and should be readily available. It's the scare tactic marketing techniques that create said Jack Ass, moronic parents as illustrated above. Now back to your regularly scheduled Rant.

I trust science. I know many a person in that field. I was vaccinated, my parents before me, my kids, etc. I don't have Autism nor do any of the people I've mentioned. There seems to be a rise in Autism yes, but maybe it's because we know what to diagnose now where before mild cases may have slipped through with the label of Special Ed Student or what have you. I don't believe that Vaccinations cause autism, there is no medical link. What these self-absorbed assholes will end up doing is causing the reemergence of long dead viruses that have been kept at bay by generations of Vaccinations. But hey I guess they want their kids to get Polio, Small Pox, Tuberculosis, Measles, Mumps, Chicken Pox, etc than run the risk of their kids becoming autistic.

The next example of "fine" Bay Area parenting comes from a Blog on SFGate.com that I know better not to read. The Mommy Blog. This woman is a self-important, self-absorbed, has more money than sense Mother who thinks that her words of "wisdom" will help the average Middle Income Mother. Yeah, the average Middle Income Mother can afford to shop at Whole Foods Market, Draegers and Molly Stones.....suuuurrrreee she can. No said Mother can afford Safeway or Albertsons or Cala...even Trader Joes but as we all know Trader Joes is great for couples or singles but not for shopping for families. You'd have to buy a bit more of everything to feed a family. Anyway, this woman states that there is an article somewhere that links childrens shampoo to cancer. I know, wait it gets better..... She sees a friend, a fellow self-absorbed Uber wealthy Mom-type (probably driving a Hummer and carting her 1.5 kids around town in it) and she comments on how this woman's hair looks so silky and shiny. This woman says it's because her family has stopped using shampoo and that their natural oils help their hair look like it does. Okay so now being unhygenic is trendy. WTF people!!!! Her hair is shiny because of the freaking grease in it!!!! So this woman decides she wants to go shampoo free so takes her family off of it. Uhhhh...screw you lady! I hope she doesn't have kids....oh wait she does.....I bet her kids get the crap teased out of them at school...."hey grease head....don't you ever shower Pigpen???" Let's see, they have had a kids shampoo product out for about 100 years or so....I believe it's called Johnson's Baby Shampoo!!!!!! You know, the "no more tears" kind of shampoo........Hell I know adults that use it. Guess what, generations of kids have used that shampoo and haven't gotten cancer from it. Lord strike these idiots down please......

I've noticed it's a certain age group......it's the folks that were kids in the 80's....not a Teen in the 80's like I was...no little kids...say 7-8 in the 80's...that's who it is. Apparently this generation grew into the whiniest bunch of self-entitled dumbasses ever!!! Okay not every single one of them, but there seems to be an age group with these stories and they all fall into that generation....some anyway, I believe Jenny McCarthy is in her 40's or almost there....but I digress.

Then his Mayorness, Gavin Newsome, wants to put a toll on street usage by cars during commute hours. Apparently Market is getting so packed with cars from people trying to get to the bridges that it's causing pollution issues of all kinds, air, noise, etc. That's great Gavy....just freaking smart. Drive more businesses out of San Francisco why don't you. Soon there will be 2 companies that call that place their home and the Peninsula will be the booming place to build an office park. I also can't believe some people and the whining they do. As you know, out here I still hear almost everyday about President Obama and his "New Socialist Agenda"......I swear this is going to go on for the next 8 years....Yeah I said it...8 Years bitches!!!. Well apparently in SF the rant is they don't have enough money, that no TV shows call it home etc. So on a Sunday past they took one of the freeway ramps and closed it off so they could film a SFX shot for a new TV show that may be based in SF. They blew up a tanker truck and it was apparently really cool. Here where the gist of most of the comments on the article : "Great...polluting the air...go back to Hollywood we don't want you. Oh, I was inconvienced by helicopters flying over my house....blah blah blah whine whine whine......" Lord folks, STFU!!!!! Please? Freaking self-important morons.

Then there's this new article......folks are feeding their pets unprocessed/raw food. Yeah, that's what Fluffy the Cat and Socks the Dog need...raw freaking meat. MMMM that lovely raw chicken sitting is his bowl.....you know with it's potential for freak Salmonella.....E Coli, etc. Why do you think every label for Chicken says to wash your hands after handling and make sure it's thourghly cooked......I admit, the animal food companies screwed up by buying tainted goods from China.....that's a whole nother topic for a whole nother day......but they have learned. Purina makes some of the most nutritious food out there and they have for years. Panther and Malinky do just fine on Friskees Select with beef and chicken thank you very much (it's a Purina brand BTW.....).

I guess since these folks back home can't afford to flip houses anymore and spend money like water and leverage themselves to the hilt they have to have some kind of entertainment. I don't condone finding another alternative, I really don't. But come on folks!!! Seriously, vaccines not only protect your child from dibilitating diseases, they protect other people's children as well. Stop thinking about just yourselves. There are plenty of natural shampoos out there, you just have to look, and like soap you just have to use it. Wash your damn hair, and if you don't want to wash yours, then wash your damn kids hair. My StepDaughter used to go visit some neighbor kids to play, and would always come back with Head lice.......every time to the point she wasn't basically allowed to play with those kids.....never had a recurrance of it..hmmm maybe those kids Mom was a "no-shampoo" Mom.....Hygene is important, and something to teach your damn kids. Hollywood makes TV shows and Movies and often times uses real locations to shoot footage. Said shooting is agreeed upon by local Officials and paid for; handsomely I might add. You know, money that goes into the coffers of the City....you know the money you were bitching that the City doesn't have. You live in San Francisco....a well known City, a beautiful City that Screenwriters like to use as a backdrop. Live with the minor incoviences. Hell Mythbusters did an explosion test in Yolo County (a little tiny area in way Northern California) that got out of hand and blew some windows out, etc. Discovery Channel paid for all the damages and had them all repaired within the week of the incident with gushing apologies from the Mythbusters and the Network. Newsom; stop trying to drive all business out of the City...idiot. The transit only works if you work in the Financial District. If you work any where else it will require you to get up at 3 am and transfer from Bart to Bus to Street Car to even Taxi just to get to work. It's easier to freaking Drive. Don't penalize folks because of your inept system. Fix the system. As for the pet food thing....meh I know folks that swear by Iams and the really expensive brands, then I know folks like my Parents, who used to feed our dogs dry food with fresh cooked chicken chunks thrown in as a treat. But they still fed them store bought food. Don't get the cheap crap and get a name brand.

And please, for the love of all that is Holy, STOP YOUR FREAKING WHINING AND WAKE THE HELL UP!!!!!!!!!!

Stop the insanity now!!!!

Movie reviews and recommendations..also game reviews

Recently we rented two of the new releases, one we loved, the other I rented for myself and was really disappointed in.

First up we have "Righteous Kill" with DeNiro and Pacino. Okay, right there makes it worth watching as far as I'm concerned. It was a great movie, and just when you thought you had it figured out, you didn't. Loved it.

Next was "Wanted". I wanted to like this movie about a secret order of assasins who can curve bullets by flick their wrists at the right time as they are shooting a gun.....okay that last bit always made me scream "I DON'T THINK SO!!!!". The actor that played the Faun in Narnia plays a kid who's Father is a member of this order and he's got all the right stuff to become one of them. Okay, that's great, but apparently part of the training is getting tied to a chair and having the shit beat out of you. Not sure exactly what that does to train you to be an elite assassin, but whatever. The "twist" was lame, and the motivation for the "ex assassin taking out his former mates" was really dumb too. The action was okay and yes the curving bullet trick was kind of cool. This film could have been better, but it wasn't.

Now for games. As you know we have a Wii. After getting burned by Activision (of all companies....but I digress) we have taken to renting games before we buy them. Thank God too. Store policy at a lot of retail stores when it comes to media (and they tell me it's not their policy it's the manufacturer) is if you open it, it can't be exchanged for your money back, only for the same product (in the case of it not working). Even if the game sucks and infuriates you, you can't get your money back. I understand why; too many people buying a game/CD/DVD, taking it home and making a copy, then taking it back and getting their money back essentially getting the item for free. Thanks you cheap, thieving bastards!!!! We bought a game called "Block Party" by Activision. On the cover of the box are examples of all kinds of sports; badmitton, frisbee, bocce, etc all the kinds of games you'd play in your neighborhood as a kid. Not a single one of the games on the front cover is in the game. NOT A SINGLE ONE!! I had to check the disc to make sure there wasn't a mistake. Nope, what you got was some bizarre game of kids playing games like "garbage bag hammer toss" or "wheel the Unicycle across the clothesline, or shoot the flies that are eating your cake!?!?!?!?!? No music, and the characters you use look like toddlers and sound like them too. Activision totally misrepresented the game. Could I get my money back? Nope. So after learning that lesson, we have opted to renting them at Hollywood before buying them. Here's a list of the ones we've rented and recommendations on them.

Deadly Creatures: Great graphics and gameplay. You switch between playing a Tarantula and a Scorpion making your way through the Sonoran Desert. The movements of the animals were recorded from motion capture sensors placed on an actual Scorpion and an actual Tarantula. Great game, but I beat it in 3 days. Unlike other games of this type, there's no replay value whatsoever. The collectibles that you find just open up more concept art....ooooooooo.... what would be cool is if they had a deathmatch mode or a battle mode where each player/player vs CPU picks either one of the main critters or one of the countless others that you run into during the game to fighi it out. Rating: Fun but no replay value. Not worth 40-50 bucks, more like 20.....you're better off renting it and playing it for 3 days. It will be worth your 8 bucks.

Sims 2 Castaways: Fun game, but it only lets you save one game at a time, so if multiple people in the household want to play, all their hard work is overwritten by the next person playing it. What possessed EA to not let you have multiple save slots is beyond me.
Rating: Fun if you're the only person playing it. Not worth it if there are multiple people in your household sharing your Wii.

Animal Crossing: City Folks: What a great game. We've actually not deleted our saved info for this game and plan to purchase it. This is one of those, slow paced, walk around talk to your neighbors/interact/fetch/collect type of games. You start by naming your City, then up to 4 members of your household can live in it (each with it's own save slot). The great part of it is if you have a friend that has the same game, you register each other's machine's "friend code" and via Wii Connect, you can "travel" between Cities and visit your friends City that he has created. It also uses the Wii speak module so you can chat with that friend as well.

Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility: One of those strange Japanese Final Fantasy looking type games, but plays like Animal Crossings or a Sims game. You farm/fetch, etc and make friends on this land you live in. The problem with it is it seems to have a function in it that keeps kids from playing on the Wii all day that you cannot disconnect. Your character loses energy so quickly that you tire easily and are only limited in the time you can actually get on and play the game. Stupid concept, and it's what's keeping us from buying it. Hell if I pay 40-50 bucks for a game I want to play it as long as humanly possible if I want to. You want to limit my playing time, then charge 20 for your game.
Rating: Fun game, but it has a built in limiter that is frustrating as all Hell so this is a no buy for us.

Carnival Mini-Golf: Lots of fun, but once you've unlocked everything it's pretty much done. Sure you can replay the courses, but they are the same three holes every time.
Rating: Fun, but no replay value after you've unlocked every thing. Not worth the high price.

Monster Truck 4x4 World Circuit: For 20 bucks you get a racing game that comes with a plastic steering wheel that you put your Wii Remote in. Even after unlocking all the vehicles, etc it's still one I play alot. My 5 year old Grandson loves it too. Great for kids.
Rating: Fun game, and worth the 20 bucks. You get a great game with a controller accessory for 20 dollars....very rare for the Wii

We Love Golf: What a great golf game this is. Regular Golf with several levels to unlock and several mini-games/tournaments as well. It also works via Wii WiFi so you can play against a friend via Wii Connect.
Rating: Great game, lots of fun. It has this great taunt feature that you can use to make a snide comment (pre-programmed based on the character you are playing) on your opponents Wii Remote (each one has their own speaker).

Rockstar Games Pro Table Tennis: This is a fun one, and it wears you out playing it.
Rating: Real fun, and worth buying if there were others willing to play against you. Playing the computer is fun, but against a friend is even better.

Star Wars Clone Wars Lightsaber Duels: This game is okay. It's basically a fighting game with characters from Lucas' latest Star Wars crap item he's packaging. The artwork is even the same as those used on the CG cartoon. Battling the other characters is pretty cool (you can even buy Wii remote light saber holders....) but in the single player mode it's repetitive and gets old quick.
Ratings: It's okay, but then again I tend to look down on all things Lucas since those pieces of crap he called "Prequels" came out..(yes I'm still bitter). If you have other humans to play against it's great fun.....

Nascar Kart: It's Mario Kart with Nascar Drivers. It's fun, but it's not Mario Kart.
Rating: Buy Mario Kart which is one of the best racing and battling games ever. This one is okay.

My Sims: We just bought this one and it's fun. Like Animal Crossing, but unlike the other sims games. The characters are a bit cartoony, but thats okay. The essence of this game is building stuff. You build houses for characters and move them into your town. This is an EA game like Sims Castaways, but it has 3 save slots so 3 people can actually play the same game.
Rating: fun and addicting. Nice casual game.

That's it for now. More to come later.

A Couple of Things

"This depiction is soo absurd it should be an offense to anyone's intelligence. If you can't cook pasta without being driven to suicidal panic you should be institutionalized." SuperGoober commenting on my Ad post...

See, SG gets it. He was referring to those ads for the microwave plastic pasta cooking devices. The ad shows some poor, harried Housewife desperately trying to cook spaghetti for her brood the old fashioned way; you know a pot of boiling water.... Apparently this woman is so uncoordinated that she just can't seem to carry a pot of water/with cooked spaghetti in it to her sink and poor it into a collander. She splashes, she struggles, her hair is all unkempt and it looks like she's about to take Hubby's shotgun and suck on the business end of it and end it all!!! Yeah, good point SG.....totally nuts. A lot of ads have stooped to that level; the scare tactic. Take the Netflix ads.....some poor soul forgot to take back the movie they rented to the video store, or some poor soul just HAS to get a movie NOW!!!! and they go rushing to the local store all unkempt (I've used that word twice now.....) and stressed out. The tagline is "Take the drama out of renting..." What drama? Nothing against Netflix, it's a great service from what I've been told, but give me a break. I know from friends experiences that sometimes you have to wait for those "hard to find" movies to arrive from Netflix just like when they are all rented out at the store. Yes there are not late fees, but whatever. Hollywood video gives you 5 days for movies and games, even new releases. If you can't get around to watching something or playing something in 5 days, you shouldn't have rented it to begin with. The one's that really get me are the Pharmaco ones. We have two new vaccines now that if you don't get them or someone you loved vaccinated it will rain fire and brimstone, dogs and cats will live together and there will be mass hysteria!!!! Enter Gardasil and Menatra (sp?). The first is for Human Papalova Virus....essentially the virus that causes Cervical Cancer.......not sure of the percentage chance of getting CC, but apparently because this company has now created a Vaccine for it, the percentage chance is much higher than it was.........same with Menatra(sp?) which is for Menigicacul Menigitis......basically Mono.......their ads bascially make it sound like all teenagers should be decontaminated on a daily basis because they are writhing crocks of Menigicacul Menigitis. How many people do you remember getting Mono in school? I remember one, and she recovered and didn't die or have any long term effects because of it. Apparently though because of this new vaccine, Mono is rampant in the current teenage population. Let's see, I have a 14 year old Step-Daughter, she has some teenage friends and a boyfriend her age. I've met all these kids and not a one of them are a writhing crock of menigitis; of any kind! The one billboard ad I saw that was this bad was in Cookeville, TN. There's a local pest control company who put up a billboard that has a sleeping, precious little snowflake of a blonde blue-eyed infant sleeping. Crawling near said precious little snowflake is a HUGE (in comparison to the baby) Black Widow Spider......the tagline says something to the affect "Sleep Safe?" or something like that. In other words....if you don't hire these folks, giant Black Widow Spiders (in comparison to the baby, about the size of a silver dollar....that's a damn huge Black Widow) will sneak into your home and kill your baby.

Now to the next item on the agenda. Businessweek published a list the other day about the Unhappiest Cities in America. It used the criteria of crime rates, divorce rates, suicide rates, unemployment, etc. Portland was apparently number 1 on the list because of the weather....and Nashville was number 8. Now alot of people out here were annoyed by that; I look at them and say "what they Hell are you smoking?" Nashville, the City where a couple of years ago two spoiled, rich, youths were walking along the riverside one frosty winter night, high and drunk, and decided to roll some poor sleeping homeless woman into the river. They thought it was funny. She ended up drowning. They are now in jail screaming everytime Bubba anally rapes them. The same City where gang banging thugs abuse the privalige of After Hours clubs by always getting into fights that end in a shooting or a stabbing. Yes, out here there are clubs that re-open from 2am to 6am after clubs are supposed to be closed by law. The catch? They don't sell acohol during those hours. The problem? They allow you to bring your own alcohol in. Yeah, that's not going to be a problem.....noooooooo not at all. High divorce rate, oh yeah. Lot's of Teens who are repressed by parents who just tell them "it's a sin to have sex so don't do it" and don't actually talk to their Teens about the real consequences of having sex before you are ready. So far our talk with my Step-Daughter seems to have sunk in. These same Teens then rush to the altar to get married and end up divorced years later because the person they slept with and that got them pregnant/they got pregnant wasn't Mr/Ms Right but Mr/Ms Right Now. The same City where just last night someone shot a homeless man in the face. The Police say it was an apparent robbery. Now let me get this straight, you are trying to rob a HOMELESS MAN.....for what? His cardboard box???? The poor guy is on the streets...that means he has enough change to by booze and that's it. The same City where little punks don't even wait anymore for people to be away from their house before they rob the place. No, these punks bust in, tie everyone up, sometimes rape the women, then rob the place blind. Oh yeah, and they usually shoot someone even when they are being cooperative. The weather in Middle Tennessee is weird to begin with....I can see that being a factor. The freeways are in need of some serious fixing in places. Heck, for awhile there it seemed like there was nothing but construction delays and that certain projects would never get finished. The same City where Downtown is loaded with tons of vacant buildings that seem to have been empty for years. Don't get me wrong, at least Nashville isn't Memphis.....Thank God it's not Memphis. Let's just say that Memphis is a cross between Oakland, Harlem, Brooklyn and Detroit. The City just needs a change that's all...yeah if there was any money.....I'm glad I live in the Burbs.....I've always been glad I've lived in the Burbs actually.

Ads and Advertising.

Behold the picture of the Salesman of the Centure....it's true. Ron's my Hero. This guy started with the Ronco Pocket Fisherman and the Ronco Record Vacuum in the 70's...for all you little kiddies out there thats Record as in Vinyl album.....he had tons of crap coming out all the time. He was the originator of the term "now how much would you pay?" This guy has made a mint convincing us we need to pay, in 4 installments of 19.95, for his useless plastic gadgets. Okay...yes I'm guilty of once owning a Popeil Pasta Maker.....

In all seriousness though, you gotta love Ron.....you see that Showtime Rotisserie oven of his, and you can't help but say to yourself "Set it, and forget it...". You know you do.

Remember the Ginsu Knife....it slices, dices....you can cut through a nail and still slice a tomato paper thin......

Lately we've been having some fairly bizarre items appear on our TV....some that are truly funny.

Ah yes...One size fits all....that's right it's the Sunggie! Yes, you too can purchase a backwards bathrobe with big sleeves that makes you look like a reject from some Cult. Seriously you look like you stepped out of the Spanish Inquistion Skit. (Google Monty Python for the reference). Seriously for 20 bucks you can scare your neighbors as they think you are going to sacrifice small animals to Satan or something. Hell, just get a fleece blanket......we got some on sale at Penney's for 7 bucks a piece.....or better yet, put on a damn sweater......

Speaking of Spokesmen........

Don't you want to stick an ice pick in this guys head everytime you see him on TV? Seriously, I don't think Billy Mays has an inside voice. This guy yells more than Dora does! He talks in all Caps for Christsake!! I think that the only way any of the stuff he sells works is if you yell at it at his volume. Oxy Clean uses the power of oxygen; the oxygen coming out of Mays' lungs at full volume that is.....

Then there's this Douchebag....

Oh yeah...the Vinnie the ShamWow guy......hey the Shamwow is German and you know they make quality stuff.......this guy reminds me of all those guys you see at the County Fair in the Commercial buildings selling crap just like this......or doing cooking demonstrations with new, non-stick cookware......or even demoing a Ginsu knife.....they talk fast, they know all the tricks, and odds are if these guys didn't look normal they'd be working a Carny somewhere trying to get you to throw darts at a balloon.

I love the other ads that we are subjected to as well. I remember a Gillette ad that was like mind control or something. It was in Black and White with all these images of their razors, and sports cars, and hot chicks and it was narrated by some guy in an almost hypnotic voice talking about quality, and class, and being cool and the tag line was "I need to have that feeling again...." I stopped using Gillette razors (the Mach 3, etc) ones awhile ago when it got to the point that the replacement razors cost more than the damn handle itself!!!! Seriously the handle plus 2 razors costs 7.99 - 9.99. Four replacement blades cost in this range, depending on the color scheme.....15.99-22.99.....WTF??? If you have the vibrating one, those are green and orange, they cost more than the grey and blue ones for the non-vibrating handle. Guess what, the freaking blades are the same damn thing but with different colors!!!! I go to Sam's and buy the disposable ones (shut up you whiny Eco freaks......one way or another metal and plastic are going in the landfill....)......you get 32 blades for about 25-30 dollars.

The ads I truly love, are the one's that make me laugh. If you are going to advertise to me, entertain me. The Bud Light "Real Men of Genuis" radio ads are some of the funniest ads around. I actually turn them up so I can hear them. I don't drink Bud Light, nor would I if you paid me, but their ads are damn funny.

The ones I hate, are when they work ad placement into a TV show and they aren't real subtle about it. On CSI they drive Yukons. You see the company Badge on the car, and even see the name of the make of the vehicle on the side in the shot sometimes, but it's logical for it to be there because the actor is getting stuff out of the SUV speaking lines. Then you will see a few ads for the Yukon during the commercial break. That's subtle. In the second season of Heroes, Claire was driving a Nissan Rogue. This was pointed out to us blantantly by Noah, her Dad, saying "Claire I bought you a new Nissan Rogue". When it was stolen, she said "Sorry Dad, they Stole the Nissan Rogue". Way to make me almost not watch a show. Damages and Leverage did the same thing. Cadillac sponsors Damages, and they had Glen Close getting into her Escalade Hybrid (they pointed this out very blatantly) and their was a Mini Cooper parked next to it.....she basically said the commercial (there's a commercial where they compare the City MPG of the Hybrid Escalade to the City MPG of the Mini Cooper) word for word. Okay, so a scene in a good Drama that had nothing to do with the current episode, or any episode for that matter, was turned into a commercial....the same damn commercial they showed during the next commercial break. In Leverages they have been driving a Hyundai Genesis.....talked about a lot during that particular episode.....they even showed them playing around with the GPS screen and this little Hyundai Genesis screen came on........

I know these cable networks don't have the big budgets the Networks do, but give me a freaking break okay!!!

It's March.....And it's still freaking cold!!!!!

Seriously, I'm shooting Pickipsy Phil or whatever the name of that ridiculous Ground Hog is.  Cold weather sucks.  K...I'm tired of it.  I have a Pond to dig damn it!!!  I have bikes to ride with my Wife.....I have a fence to re-do.......we even found plans for a screened building that we like.......seriously this is getting annoying!!!  We have buildings to build at the Airsoft field....I went out there yesterday and we were bundled up working...damn arctic wind blowing through.....  Please Spring...get here soon...pretty please......